SPACE ARCHAEOLOGIST tier live, OST now available in select tiers, and 10% funded in 30 hours!

Posted by Chris McElligott Park on October 11th, 2016

Wow what a whirlwind of a few days! If I haven’t responded to your message yet, I really apologize and will do so as soon as possible. I’m caught up on the kickstarter messages and comments themselves, but I’m behind on Steam and the Arcen forums.

Funding Is Starting Strong!

Our kickstarter for AI War II has now passed 10% funding within its first 30 hours, which seems like it bodes well. But the graph for every game is different, and so we’re not going to sit idle just because of a strong start. We can still use all the help that we can get in spreading the word on social media, other sites that would be interested in this sort of game, and of course via gaming news.

Reddit AMA Tomorrow

Speaking of! Tomorrow we’re going to be doing another AMA on /r/Games/. It will start at 11am EST, but if you’re going to be late feel free to still ask questions — I’m on reddit every day anyway (not during work!).

So what else is new? Well, we’ve updated the video for the kickstarter to be a little better (it was already pretty killer). If you’ve already seen it, it mainly just adds a bit of extra visual and sound effect punch and clarity in a few places, and then a bit of extra music at the end (sneak peek of a vocal track from Stars Beyond Reach, actually).

New Backer Tier!

Our $100 and $300 tiers sold out incredibly quickly, and we’re trying to figure out how to handle that — providing rewards at those levels that you folks will enjoy, but that don’t break us in the implementation/fulfillment phases. Thanks for bearing with us!

In the meantime, we’ve added a new $400 tier: SPACE ARCHAEOLOGIST.

As a Space Archaeologist you get the following benefits shared by all Neinzul Backers:
– Named prominently in the credits as a Neinzul Backer
– Neinzul Backer badge on Arcen forums.
– 5 backer-exclusive AI War II digital wallpapers
– Write your own “message in a bottle” that will be discoverable in-game (subject to approval)
– Two copies of the game in private alpha
– Name an in-game planet

In addition, and EXCLUSIVE to the Space Archaeologist, you get to:
-Work with Blue to design a mysterious alien artifact, then collaborate with Jack to write what we know about them (subject to approval)

Initially controlled by the AI, alien artifacts are variants on the resource-generating derelicts scattered across the galaxy. Capturing an artifact earns you a one time Science bonus, and ongoing attempts to study them sometimes “glitch out”, and generate allied ships! These ships aren’t pushovers, and while you can’t control them, you don’t have to pay for them either. The AI won’t be happy about losing the artifacts however, and will destroy them rather than let you keep them.

Space Archaeologists will individually work with Blue to design their own artifact, and then work with Jack to explain what we know about it. That might be where it’s from or how it was found, secrets of its construction or how it’s been used. With this tier you’ll be adding one more secret to the Arcenverse, so don’t explain too much!

Soundtrack Now Included In All $100+ Tiers!

So many of you asked for this that we worked it out and are now going to be providing high-quality mp3, FLAC, and wav file versions of the AI War II OST for anyone who pledges at least $100. This will include the entire soundtrack, including any stretch goals or other bonus tracks commissioned, so when exactly you get each piece may be staggered a bit.

This was a belated addition due to popular demand, and kickstarter doesn’t allow us to change the description of backer tiers after someone has pledged at that level (definitely for the best as a general policy), so we’ve had to make note of it in the campaign FAQ and in the rewards section (not the sidebar).

If you’ve read this far, here’s a special reward. ;) This is Pablo’s reorchestrated and remastered version of the original AI War title theme. Just like Arcen itself, he’s come a really long way since 2009, and I continue to be really stunned and impressed with the work he’s doing lately.

Other Changes To The Campaign!

People have been making all sorts of great suggestions.

We now have a new $40 tier that simply gives you two v1.0 copies of the game (so it’s just like getting the $20 tier twice).

We’ve added two new videos down in the body of the campaign that show off the far zoom mechanics for the new game as well as the last trailer for the first game.

Down at the bottom there are now a number of charts detailing our work status on all the major 1.0 features. We’re further along on a number of them than folks might have realized, massive design document aside.

That’s all for now! I’ll have more updates coming up soon, as will other members of the team. Thanks again for all your support, enthusiasm — and let’s not forget trust. With a campaign like this you’re trusting that we’ll follow through for you, and we have absolutely no intention of letting you down.

3 Responses to “SPACE ARCHAEOLOGIST tier live, OST now available in select tiers, and 10% funded in 30 hours!”

I only knew about the kickstarter because I follow Arcen specifically. Have you asked about doing an interview for 3 moves ahead, quill18, total biscuit, quarter to three, et cetera? These are people who would get word out about your game to the audience that want to know about it. (Total Biscuit loved last federation and has a large audience in general). no idea if a larger cite might be interested as well to pick up the people who love starcraft/age of empires comp stomps but are not established RTS players.

I’ll be on Three Moves Ahead next week, actually! We’ve had a bunch of coverage from sites in general (RPS, PC Gamer, etc), but that doesn’t translate into enough awareness usually. I’ve reached out to some of the other folks you mention as well, and we’re doing what we can to reach more such places. Any other suggestions, by all means please feel free to let us know!

And on the other end, please feel free to let folks know that you’d be interested in that sort of content. Not to go spamming anyone, but folks letting those sites or producers know “hey this is a thing I’d like to see” can help them make their own educated decision about whether this is something to invest their time in.

About Arcen (Ar-ken) Games

Originally known for our unusual and highly effective approach to RTS artificial intelligence in our debut title AI War: Fleet Command, we have since branched out into many other genres and styles of games.

As you can tell by browsing our catalog of titles, our interests are eclectic, and we have a particular affinity for blurring the lines between unlikely genres.